Can Yoga Help To Alleviate IBS?

Irritable Bowel Syndrome is interesting, because it is not a disease as such, but rather a collection of disparate symptoms under one heading.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome is interesting, because it is not a disease as such, but rather a collection of disparate symptoms under one heading. For those who suffer with it, nonetheless, it is very real indeed, and it’s something that can really have a hugely negative impact on your daily life. The trouble with IBS is that it is no known what causes it, nor what can really get rid of it for good. The best that you can do is alleviate the symptoms, and there are a number of approaches towards this for you to consider. Something that many IBS sufferers turn to is yoga, but is this an effective treatment method? As we will see, it can be – with the right approach to diet and other lifestyle impacts as well, IBS can be managed and alleviated to a good degree.

Although nobody knows quite what causes IBS, it is generally believed that it can almost entirely be handled through the handling of the diet. If you suffer from IBS, it’s possible that you engage in a few common diet mishaps. One in particular to avoid is drinking too much coffee. If at all possible, you should try to avoid coffee altogether – if not, just try and minimize your intake as much as you can. On top of that, you should aim to eat all the whole foods, fruit and vegetables that you can, as this will help enormously. In particular, try to take in plenty of dark greens – foods like spinach and broccoli seem to be especially effective in relieving IBS symptoms. You might also want to look into taking supplements known to help IBS. one of the benefits of butyric acid, for example, is that it appears to provide some relief for IBS symptoms. Get the diet right, and you have a strong foundation to build on.

As well as the diet, something else that is just as important is the stress levels in your body. You need to try and keep the stress levels down as much as you can, as this is the number one way that IBS symptoms will flare up again and again. The better you can keep a handle on your stress, the more likely it is that your IBS will remain manageable. The best way to handle stress is with deep breathing or meditation, so be sure to practice this alongside your yoga twice a day. This is one of the ways in which your yoga practices can really help you to manage your IBS, as yoga calms the body and mind, and also engages with breathing exercises. You can also reduce stress by paying attention to what is going on in your mind – known as mindfulness – and observing rather than reacting to it. With this approach, IBS has a much harder time of surfacing again and again.

As we have seen, yoga can help as it can provide a useful way to relax – but it is also true that many of the favored yoga poses can themselves actively help you to deal better with your IBS symptoms. It is important, however, to be somewhat careful here, as using yoga can mean that you can worsen your symptoms if you approach it in the wrong way. As ever, don’t allow yourself to be put into any pain, only a little discomfort. You should also be especially wary of any particularly strenuous positions if you are currently experiencing IBS pain, as it is likely that it will not actually help. Done right, yoga can help greatly, but you need to make sure you are doing it right in the first place. As long as you are, there is every reason that a regular yoga practice will help you with your IBS.

It will be helpful to know which positions are most useful for IBS, so let’s look at a few of the most effective now. First of all, you can start with the so-called gate pose, or Parighasana, in which you stretch your right leg out to the right from tall kneeling position, and lift your left arm up on the inhale. On the exhale, lean your torso over the right leg. This position for five to ten breaths can be hugely effective, and is one of the favorite for IBS sufferers. You might also consider the half-seated spinal twist, or reclining abdominal twist, for the same kind of results.

About Josh Bowman

Josh Bowman is a professional fundraiser, podcast host, speaker, and blogger. He has worked and consulted in Vancouver, New York, Toronto and elsewhere and is currently the Senior Development Officer, Faculty of Engineering at the University of Waterloo. Josh is the founder and host of Faith Deficit, a podcast about faith in an increasingly secular world, and also writes for the Huffington Post. Josh has been published online at Forbes.com, 101 Fundraising, People and Chairs, and a variety of other blogs.